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38 McGeorge L. Rev. 309 (2007)
Chapter 700: Statewide Cable Franchising Ends the Patchwork of the Past

handle is hein.journals/mcglr38 and id is 329 raw text is: Public Utilities Chapter 700: Statewide Cable Franchising Ends the Patchwork of the Past Joseph F. Klatt Code Sections Affected Public Utilities Code § 5970 (new), §§ 401, 440, 441, 442, 443, 444, 5800, 5810, 5820, 5840, 5850, 5860, 5870, 5880, 5885, 5890, 5900, 5910, 5920, 5930, 5940, 5950, 5960 (amended); Revenue and Taxation Code § 107.7 (amended). AB 2987 (Nfiiez); 2006. STAT. Ch. 700. I. INTRODUCTION Cable television began its life as Community Antenna Television (CATV), a way for rural areas to receive distant broadcast signals.' In 1948, John Walson created one of the first cable systems.2 Walson sold televisions and other appliances out of Mahanoy City, a rural Pennsylvania coal mining town.3 Because mountains surrounded the town, televisions with set-top antennas could only receive broadcast signals from the tops of nearby mountains where Walson often took customers to demonstrate his wares.4 Walson struck upon the idea of building a large antenna tower and stringing heavy duty twin lead cable from the mountain to his store so that he could demonstrate his television sets without a long and inconvenient trip.' Walson soon started offering to connect his * Chapter 700 was the product of policy, politics, and lobbying. As the legislation evolved, it was supported and opposed by shifting coalitions of industry and local governments. Parts of the debate over Chapter 700 spilled out into the public through a series of political ads, many of which were highly disingenuous. This article attempts to present an objective view of the final legislation and avoids the polemics that characterized the debates over Chapter 700's passage. This should not be taken to minimize the very real and serious policy concerns implicated or the convictions of Chapter 700's supporters and detractors. See ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON UTILITIES AND COMMERCE, COMMITrEE ANALYSIS OF AB 2987, at L-N (Apr. 24 2006) (listing thirty-five organizations and businesses in support of the legislation, including industry giants AT&T, Verizon, and Microsoft, and listing thirty-eight organizations, businesses, and local governments, including Comcast, Time Warner Cable, sixteen cities individually, and the League of California Cities, as opposed to the legislation); see also Matthew Yi, Big Business Lobbies Hard for Video Licensing Bill, S.F. CHRON., Aug. 28, 2006, at Al (reporting that AT&T and Verizon combined spent around twenty million dollars lobbying in support of the legislation in the months of April, May, and June). 1. The Cable Center, Education & Research, Oral History Detail Page, http://www.cablecenter.org/ education/library/oralHistoryDetails.cfm?id=270 (last visited June 17, 2006) (on file with the McGeorge Law Review). 2. Id. 3. Id. 4. Id. 5. Id. 309